Bell Cranel: The Crimson Conqueror
by heavenspen
Summary: If Bell had started his journey four years earlier; If Bell had met another goddess before Hestia; Bell would become so badass by canon. In Legends, the most famous spoke of a crimson goddess and her legendary champion becoming the First Familia; What if a certain MC was that legendary champion? AU. OP! Bell, OOC behaviour, Harem, Legendary Bell!
1. Chapter 1

**WOOHOO I'm so freaking glad that they accepted my request.**

**Wanted to create a story of this manga for so LONG!**

**Read the Light Novel, it is awesome!**

**There'll be some elements for Samayou Shinki no Duelist except with a few changes.**

**These elements will change Bell's character and background history.**

**Bell x Harem: **Hestia, Freya, Aizu, Syl/Seal, All the Canon Harem candidates, ? (Main romance interest: OC, if you've been paying attention to my other fics you'll know who she is, hint: she's a certain crimson haired goddess in both mythology and a certain Nexon game)

**In canon, there is apparently only one entrance to the dungeon from what I've read. Which kind of intrigues me because there are a lot of gods and goddesses and there are a lot of cities out there.**

**So I'm changing it so that there are several different countries containing Gods and Goddesses respective to their own homeland: Zeus in Greece blah, blah, blah and that there is a portal in each country that teleports adventurers into the floors of the dungeon, provided that they've already explored that floor once. **

**But like in canon, there is only one Tower of Babel which acts like the control tower of the planet. Gods and goddesses, and only they, can teleport there.**

**Status in this fan fiction will represent potential rather than what stats typically represent in RPGs. **

**Like abilities, those with higher potential are wanted by the gods for their familia. Those who make it to Rank S are welcomed into the realm of the elites. **

**Take into account stats do not define everything. Skill also plays a role in an adventurer's career.**

**Examples, Elite Standards:**

**For each Stat, those who make it to Rank S at:**

999~800: Normal (For Level 2 adventurers and above), every 1~100, Example: Bert Ryouga

799~600: Somewhat rare/Promising, 1~1000, Example: Tiona (Amazon older sister)

599~500: Rare, 1~30,000, Example: Riveria Rios Alfr

499~400: Super Rare, 1~1,000,000, Example: Aizu the Sword Princess

399~1: Unheard of, key word is 'Unheard'

**Like Canon; the max stat is 999 with the exception of Bell. Every Level Up will reset the stats to 1.**

**Ability classification:**

-Normal Skill: Learnable by anyone

-Rare Skill: Given to a few, depends on luck

-Hyper Burst Skill: Usually in the form of a one-off super destructive, landscape changing attack or a super power-up.

**Special Ability classification:**

-Hero's Wish: given to Hero Vessels

-Devil's Soul: obtained by selling your soul to any Demon (they're like the Arrancars of the Dungeon)

-God's Gift: given to Demi-Gods; either natural or artificial.

-Satan's Devilry: Only Bell contains this skill; Satan's Vessel

-God's Authority: given to Gods and godslayers; there has only been one Godslayer.

**Old Age adventurers: **adventurers who explored the Dungeon before the existence of God's Grace, when they actually had to train their bodies to get stronger, invent their own magic spells and practise life skills such as cooking on their own.

**New Age Adventurers: **the adventurers who commonly rely on God's Grace to get stronger. Who memorise skills through reading enchanted books.

**XXXXX-Chapter 1-XXXXX **

**Preface: **The Crimson Goddess and her Champion

_4 years before the present..._

The dungeon...a seemingly infinite dungeon that spans further and further down with floors that continually increase in difficulty. The prospects of so many heinous and powerful makes me shiver with excitement...

...along with the one beside me.

I, together with my companion, would venture into unexplored regions containing untold spoils of many different forms.

"So this is the famous dungeon?" She smiled at him, his eagerness was evident from his question. They had just went through the portal, and had landed in a random stony corridor.

He looked about ten to eleven, and like most children, he looked absolutely adorable. But the aura that the boy exuded, the look in his eye and the way he held himself...it jus reeked of manliness, confidence and pride.

She could always rely on him, nothing could change that. Not even this dungeon could tear them apart.

"Mhmm..." She nodded in confirmation.

"I can sense several magic sources coming our way, that was certainly a quick response time!" He looked around their surroundings and certainly she could hear the sound of several stampedes surrounding them from every direction.

"Well, we are their first visitors. It's only proper that every resident in the vicinity is too greet us with the utmost courtesy." She said sarcastically.

2 years ago, when they had met she would've never joked around, especially not in this setting.

God, what has this child done to her!

"Stand beside me, I'll take care of all of them before they can even set foot within five metres from you!"

I lifted the corners of my mouth, happy at his declaration...indeed, he was not one to let her down. Not now, not ever!

"Then face me, my beloved Champion!"

He turned around yet blushing slightly at the fond yet teasing nickname. What happened next would set his face aflame with embarrassment, without the aid of magic to her amazement and amusement.

She had kissed him...on the lips! Tongue very much included in the exchange of saliva, passion, love and lust.

Even after they had separated, a single strand of saliva remaining, he was still blushing...unable to form all but one thought.

Was it worth it to explore a dungeon of unparalleled danger for one girl?

Correction, was it worth it to endure future battles of untold glory and epicness for the love of the most beautiful, sexy, dazzling and amazing woman ever?

_HELL YEAH! _

He was burning with energy now...this was definitely HIS SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!

While he fist pumped, the woman beside him was smiling in amusement.

The bond they shared was unlike any other, two beings of so much contrast in the world's currently hierarchy yet so similar in emotion, personally and thoughts. But it would be this bond that would prove the strength that came fro

She read his mind, particularly his latest thought, it was a peculiar wish of his, but most welcoming in so many ways!

"Go, my Champion, show them the might of the one who shall be coined [The Strongest]! Show them the might...of he, who, shall be called [The Conqueror] of the Dungeon!"

Brandishing his intricately patterned green and golden sword, special glyphs placed on the bottom of the blade, from his black sheath. He readied himself into the sprinting position...

"Yes, Kami-sama!"

...and dashed off at humanly impossible speeds towards the nearest mob of monsters, sword in tow.

Yes, she had no doubt!

Together, they would become legends amongst the humans and gods themselves!

Together, they would show the strength of a bond between the divine and the mortals...

...and several years later, when legends were born from their adventures, they would be renowned as the [First and Strongest Familia]!

**XXXXX-4 years later, Canon Period-XXXXX**

**Chapter 1: **Is it wrong to expect Peace and Quiet in the Dungeon?

Nope, definitely not.

But one sonuva****** decided to disagree with me!

"HROOOAAHHHHH!"

It's to be expected, after all this is the Dungeon! The most dangerous place in the world!

But is that hard for the monsters here to leave me alone just for a couple minutes of sound sleep?

Here's my dilemma, either I open my eyes and make this my problem by gutting the bastard who's disturbing my sleep...or I keep my eyes shut and hope that, for their sakes, whoever made that horrible roaring noise wasn't that suicidal to attack me.

Ah screw it, let's just deal with whatever was in front of me.

I opened my eyes and saw...a Minotaur?

What the fuck was a Minotaur doing in the upper levels?

While I was laying down on the floor, my arms bent behind my head in a lacklustre manner. I stared at the beast hovering above me. Seriously, all I was doing was minding my own business and this beast here decided it was a good idea to invade my personal space, lack of intelligence be damned.

I frowned.

The Minotaur, seeing my frown, responded by lifting its arm into the air as it swooped down and made its way towards me.

I sighed...this just wasn't a good day...

...for whom, that is, was the real question.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

I was walking down a corridor, certain that there had been enough dramatic events for today, leading to the portal. I was even carrying a huge bag to show off to my Kami-sama.

I sort of frowned at the thought of the word 'kami-sama'.

_...I wonder, just what are you doing now?..._

Several metres later, I could suddenly sense the presence of four fairly strong auras.

There was another one, but that last aura was exceptionally more radiant than the other four.

Interesting!

But I had remembered something, the Minotaur specifically. Bearers of such strong areas wouldn't be at the upper levels for no reason, deductive reasoning playing a part, I reckoned they were after the earlier Minotaur.

Well, in order not to arouse suspicion, I relied on something I've been using quite a lot nowadays.

Acting Skill Lv. 5

Eventually, I saw two figures making their way towards me. While I was sitting, legs spread out, on one side of the corridor feigning exhaustion. The sweat on my face and body was delicately produced and strategically placed by my control over water magic.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, two well-equipped adventurers came, one girl and one boy with the last three others close behind them yet not so close as to be viewable in sight just yet.

They looked familiar, especially that girl in the front.

_Hmmm, I know I've seen these guys somewhere before..._

"Are you alright?"

I was brought back to reality; the girl was suddenly standing right in front of me.

_Ooh she's pretty cute. Nah, if I had seen these people before I would've definitely remembered this cutie. _

Indeed, if any commoner was to have come face to face with the girl in front of me, they've would been dazzled and blushing at the sight of seeing one as beautiful as a goddess.

But I had built up quite a resistance to the charms of women of all breast, height and hip sizes. Not to mention that I'm more of an oppai lover.

Something the girl on front of him was sorely lacking in. But as if compensating for the lack of the two signature plump marshmallows, her body was quite slender, clearly defined by her blue lightweight armour.

The limbs that were mostly concealed by her stockings, allowing only a small portion of those creamy thighs to be revealed were extremely tempting.

She wore a silver breastplate, don't know why since she hardly any but oh well, along with gloves of matching colour. They smelt of blood, a LOT of blood...Scary!

Her blonde hair was almost as shiny as pure gold treasure and that face...good god, that tilted face was absolutely adorable with such a baby-like expression.

She was still staring at me, confused by my silence.

"Excuse me...are you alright?" She asked again.

"...y-y-yeah!" I stuttered on purpose. "T-there was a big, s-scary monster before. I ran away from it before it could chase after me!"

"...Was it a Minotaur?" She inquired, but her golden eyes slightly narrowed as if she didn't believe my previous statement.

"Y-yeah, how d-did you know?"

"We are hunting for it. Can you point us towards it?"

"D-down the corridor, turn left at the end of the corridor, then turn right on the second passageway." That was absolute bullshit on his part; he had actually come from the right of the corridor. But they didn't need to know that...yet. It'll be kind of funny to see how they'd react when they find out he had set them on a goose chase. Too bad he'd be long gone before they realised.

"Thank you. Will you be alright in getting back?"

"Yeah, just fine, thank you. Just got a bruise or two on the way here."

"Who's this scrawny brat Aizu?" The other guy, who had just stopped behind this girl Aizu, rudely asked.

_Scrawny huh? Ooh I'd show him who's scrawny if it weren't for this coat._

Yeah coats were really useful for hiding one's figure. It's kind of funny how low their jaws drop when I take it off. Too bad he wasn't one for that anymore.

"Bate, don't be rude! He's injured because of us. If we didn't let that Minotaur escape he wouldn't be."

"Hah, serves him right! This place isn't suitable for the weak!" Oh shit, the arrogance is strong within this one.

He scanned my figure, especially the bag I was carrying up against the wall. He snickered as if he was mocking me.

"Especially for a supporter!" He rudely remarked.

_How the fuck did he come to that conclusion? What, adventurers nowadays can't be stuffed to carry their own shit? Is that it?_

"Bert, I'm warning you." The girl said ominously.

_Oh yeah, the mutt (Bert) said her name was Aizu. That sounds awfully familiar...where have I heard that name before?_

"Oh, fine, fine!" The mutt waved her off. But he continued walking down the corridor and shrugged.

"Supporters are so useless! Tell this kid to get real and find a real job!"

_Yep, now I'm pretty sure I haven't met these guys before, I would've DEFINITELY remembered this prick...at the end of my blade for being such an asshole._

"Sorry about my friend...he comes off as a bit rude..." That's an understatement. "...but he's nice when you get to know him, he's just looking out for your safety in his own way...ummm what was your name again?"

Oh yeah, I didn't tell her my name yet, did I?

"The name's Bell...Bell Cranel!"

"Bell? Well, thank you for helping us in locating the Minotaur." She bowed politely. Oh great! Now I feel like a jerk for lying to this girl...but I couldn't exactly tell her the truth.

The girl, Aizu, ran off to join her companion.

There were three figures coming from the other side. It was definitely time to get out of here!

I ran into some nearby corridor, I so didn't want to talk to any high-level adventurers. There's no telling what they might know. He took his heavy bag with him.

Because inside the bag, there was a head.

A head with two horns.

The head of a Minotaur! If they saw it, they'd interrogate him for sure.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Eina-channn~!"

"Oh god..."

Being a window receptionist, it was my job to manage the careers of adventurers assigned to me. Quite recently, an...eccentric rookie adventurer had just started and was assigned to me.

I looked up and saw that certain eccentric.

She had a pair of slender pointy ears and clear emerald-coloured eyes. Her shoulder-length brown hair had a beautiful sheen. This beautiful appearance is not the type that is the same as the elves that seemed to be pure and flawless, but rather a type that is natural. She was wearing a guild uniform on her slim body, black top pants of the same color, making her extremely beautiful.

It was exactly reason why the boy, probably a year or two younger than her, was greeting her so enthusiastically, according to him.

Well...he was welcome company compared to most of the other adventurers who would randomly stutter while blushing a bit, seriously random.

"Can you give me some info on a certain adventurer?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"What?" That was an unusual request for him.

"Aizu is her first name. Is that enough?"

"Aizu Wallenstein, the [Sword Princess]?"

"Mmmm...probably, didn't know she had a nickname though." Where was he hiding all this time.

"She's a swords-woman. One of the core members of the Loki Familia."

"Her swordplay is unmistakably at the peak of all the New Age adventurers. She had wiped out a large group of LV. 5 monsters by herself. So amongst the adventurers, she also has a title, Sword Princess. Her name is quite famous amongst the gods."

New Age adventurers were those who started their career with God's Grace making it easier to progress through the dungeon nowadays. But that was only in terms of rate of progress.

All the Old Age who are thill alive today have also gained God's Grace, that together with their bodies that have naturally grown stronger through vigorous regimes have made them far stronger than even the most strongest N.A adventurers.

But they were few in number, which is probably why they are sought after so much by the Gods, and they liked their privacy. All of them, unanimously, preferred to train and become stronger rather than wasting time and becoming entertainment for the crowd.

In other words, most of the adventurers of the New Age were a joke. They lacked the determination and the realistic mindset of the Old Age adventurers.

Most adventurers today become adventurers because they see it as a glorified way to have fun while gaining lots of money and prestige. Adventurers back in the day entered the Dungeon because it was overflowing with monsters, so much that the Gods predicted they would eventually escape the Dungeon. Back in the day, adventurers entered the Dungeon truly knowing the risks and because they had to, so that they could protect the ones they love in the real world.

It was protecting the things important to them that made the Old Age adventurers strong in spirit. Now they were strong in both body and spirit with the addition of God's Grace.

Adventurers nowadays entered simply because it was their dream. Some had the potential to become great, but that was it...potential, they lacked the spirit, the determination to make that potential become strength.

He stopped his thoughts, Eina was still speaking.

"What else is there? What about her Familia?"

"Oh, they're one of the strongest Familia in existence. I'm not too familiar with the rankings of every familia, but I do know that they are one of the few families to have won over a 100 matches in a row."

Oh that was impressive, matches in this context meant a battle between Familia. Some of the more aggressive gods like to prove their military power and so they challenge other gods to prove whom has the superior faction and thus proving the superior god to the Creator God himself.

"Throughout their entire careers, the Loki Familia has only ever experienced one loss, exactly a year ago."

"To which familia?"

"The [Strongest Familia]...they lost to the Macha Familia which has only ever been known to be represented by one person...the [Crimson Conqueror]!" The mention of that particular familia brought back many unwelcome memories as well as a flashback of a certain battle.

_I remember them now...no wonder they looked so familiar._

"Crimson what-now?" I tried really hard to feign ignorance, trying really hard not to react at the mention of that particular nickname.

"You...you seriously don't know who he is?" I shook my head sideways.

"He's the first human to receive God's Grace from a god, goddess to be exact. Back in the day, adventurers used to explore the dungeon without the aid of God's Grace."

Oh god, don't tell me...another bloody history rant about the greatness of the strongest adventurer.

These fan-people are everywhere!

"But four years ago, along came a pair, a crimson-haired goddess and her champion that did what no other adventurer could, even the ones of today, they made it past the 100th floor and into the forbidden levels...in one month!"

"In one month, the [First Familia] recorded in history slaughtered thousands upon thousands of monsters each day. The millions of gallons of blood spilt on each floor were absorbed by the [Conqueror]'s armour, turning it as crimson as the shiniest ruby, it was that relentless massacre of monsters that made him known as the [Crimson Conqueror]!"

"That sounds really scary!"

"Yes, but his strength and skill in battle awed fellow adventurers more than it scared them. There's even a crimson and silver statue of him and Macha, side by side, in several cities."

"...What do people say happened to them after that?"

"Nobody really knows, both he and his goddess haven't been spotted in public for almost a year. Most say he's still exploring deeper levels down the dungeon, others say he's retired and has made a home in the lower levels of the dungeon, it's a big mystery."

"This Aizu must be pretty powerful if this dude took the time to fight her then."

"No, not really, well...a lot of people say that she's grown a lot stronger ever since her defeat, strong enough to nearly rival him. But if you ask anyone who has actually fought alongside him, they'd know that the [Sword Princess] wouldn't stand a chance against the [Crimson Conqueror]."

"Is that right?...Well thank you for the information."

_She elaborated more on the Crimson Conqueror rather than Aizu Wallenstein. But oh well, Kami-sama might know._

Walking away quickly, I didn't notice the frown becoming a blush on Eina's face.

_Bell-kun had an unusually serious expression today...oh god, I just ranted about the [Crimson Conqueror] again didn't I?...OMG embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing!_

She was so embarrassed that she didn't even hear the 'aws' and giggles from the surrounding guild staff and adventurers.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The labyrinth city Orario.

Not only does it contain a portal that leads to an underground maze known as a dungeon, above it was a huge city.

The city, or rather a city that flourished because of the guild that managed the dungeon, had a variety of people living here, not only humans, but also other races. It was one of the most populated cities in the world, hosting gods and people from many different cultures and mythology.

As for me, well I grew up in a rural village not too far away from Orario, and was regarded as someone who knew almost nothing about the world and after my foster grandfather, had left me, I had completely lost my guardian. So I took the remaining wealth and left the village.

When I was young, my grandfather would always tell me stories of adventurers as well something like this...

_You can't be a full-fledged adventurer without a harem, got it kid? If you ever have the desire to become one of the best male adventurers in the world, achieving a harem is the most important requirement._

...he would say while laughing full-heartedly.

Being the young boy who idolised my grandfather, I engraved those words into my heart.

**A/N: Bell's grandfather is not Zeus, he's someone much, much more powerful.**

The stories of heroes and their harems told by my grandfather instilled a desire within me to get a harem myself. In my youth, I would often dream of myself saving a cute girl inside the dungeon which would lead to one thing or another.

That is, until I met her. It was a fateful encounter, way before I entered the dungeon, the beauty of her person was otherworldly.

Though she was a young girl back then, her beauty and figure was unrivalled even amongst those of her kind. It was my fateful encounter with her that wiped away my desire to achieve a harem, promptly replaced by a desire to serve and protect only her with all my might.

Every day, since then, was a blessing.

"...Every day..." I whispered mournfully before raising my head.

I was in front a two-storey building.

It was like any other normal house. Completely comprised of stone, had two square windows on each side of the door.

This was my...home.

A painful feeling rose up in my chest at the word, home.

Long ago...

_Wow isn't this an awesome place Bell-kun?_

A flash of radiant crimson hair.

_Yeah, it's so shiny!_

A glimpse of skin far more radiant than that of the golden city that surrounded them. They were walking down a golden road as they brought up fond memories.

_Hey Bell-kun...have you ever thought about settling down?_

_...sometimes...why?_

I remembered a surge of hope rising within him during that moment.

_Then...what about now? Together...forever...with me. We could raise a family, twins, a boy and a girl._

An image of a crimson-haired boy and a white-haired girl as they ran across the golden city, their parents not too far behind smiling fondly at the sight.

_What about you? What happens when I grow old as you stay young forever? Only a god is worthy of a god._

_Do you really thing I care about that?_

A look of mutual feelings was shared between them. Fondness, sadness, love...

_Please...don't be cruel. Please...don't tempt me. He...would never condone this._

I remember the warm feeling of her hands, as they cupped my cheeks.

I remember the moment...when crimson eyes met each other once more

I remember her love-struck face as those fragile, tender lips parted.

_A moment of ecstasy is worth all the time in world. You are my ecstasy, I've tasted you once...and now I can never let you go._

_I don't care that you will grow old. I don't care that this is forbidden by Father._

_What I care about...what will sustain me for eternity...is knowing that we will always love each other...even beyond the boundaries of time and space, beyond the boundaries of life and death. _

_..._

_We've broken a lot of rules since coming here Bell. Why not one more?_

_..._

_So will you grant your goddess this selfish request?_

_Anything...I would do...anything._

_Will you be my champion, forever and ever?_

_Yes..._

_Will you be my heaven? _

_Yes..._

_Will you be the home I can always return to?_

_Yes..._

_Will you...give me your heart?_

_...yes...as long as yours is mine._

_Then your heart shall be mine...forever._

_Forever and ever._

_Then let me hear you say it? Make me the happiest woman in the world._

_Macha...I love you. Always have, always will. _

_..._

_..._

_..._

I remember the tear drop running down her face.

_Macha?_

_Say it again._

_I love you, Macha. _What was a tear, transformed into a stream.

_Say it once more. _

_Macha, I love you. _

_As do I..._

She brought my face closer, leaning over, the kiss we shared was...like no other.

What we shared lasted an eternity.

What we shared was bliss.

The cries of ecstasy.

The sweat.

The passion.

On that night, we surpassed the limits of God's Grace. On that night, we shared a Bond.

Though it was forbidden, at the same time, it was so beautiful...so divine.

What we shared was...yes, in the truest sense...home.

She...was where I belonged.

**Hey guys, forgive me for ending it here but I was just so excited to upload this story kind of rushed it.**

**I implore you to give this category a chance, the series is awesome and just has so much potential.**

**I'm already on 5000 words for my next chapter of Naruto, 6000 words for a new Star Wars Naruto crossover story and a few bits here and there.**

**I usually write on a chapter only when I get motivated. Whenever I get into a kind of funk while writing on a chapter I move onto my next story.**

**But man I am so pumped for this story.**

**Note: any reference to Irish or Welsh figures, look them up in Mabinogi the Nexon Fantasy Game. Like Macha, Morrighan or Nuadha.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys I'm back. Forgive me for the grammatical mistakes I made last chapter and this chapter. I'm writing on Pages, an IPad app, and it bugs me like hell. Don't have access to any computers where I'm currently at so I'm trying my best.**

**I can't wait for the next volume translation. Solitary translations have already finished the first two volumes and you can read the fifth volume in Chinese, Google translation possible but it's pretty crap.**

**Been also reading Mushoku Tensei but it's been getting really depressing lately. I don't really mind, but I don't like how the author changes the MC from happy-go-lucky to I'm-a-pitiful-sorry-loser so quickly, those kind of changes are meant to go nice and slow and the MC has been in a funk for like two volumes...that's way too long.**

**More info/terms for this fanfic:**

**The Dungeon will act like the Aincrad castle in SAO: **there will be cities every floor, portals that will allow one to move around discovered floors etc... But each floor is huge.

**Classification rankings for skills go like this from weakest to strongest, descending order:**

**-Novice**-Beginners

**-Apprentice**

**-Senior**-Level 2 Adventurers

**-Advanced**-Level 4 Adventurers

**-Seasoned**-Tione, Bert Ryouga, Level 5 Adventurers

**-Expert**

**-Champion**-Aizu Wallenstein

**-Sage**-Riveria Rios

**-King/Master**-Roland, Arthurius, legendary mythological people like Merlin, Solomon etc...

-**Emperor/Grandmaster**-Bell Cranel, Lugh

**-God/Demon**-Literally for gods or demons of the 72 Pillars

Note there are more. Just not releasing their names...yet.

**Types of skills/talents categories including sub-categories:**

-Magic: Mage

-Close Combat/Martial Arts: Fighter

-Sword Combat: Swordsman/swords-woman

-Lance Combat: Knight

-Alchemy: Alchemist

-Medicine: Apothecary, Potions Master

-Music: Bard

-Smithing: Blacksmith, Miner

-Archery: Archer

-Holy Arts/Healing Arts: Cleric, Medic, Priest, Bishop

-Cooking: Chef

-Mercantile: Merchant

-Adventuring: Adventurer

-Tailoring: Tailor

-Farming: Farmer

-Carpentry: Carpenter

Note there are more skills but these are typically the most important.

**Combine them you get stuff like: **Sage-class Mage, Champion-class Swordsmen, Master-class Chef etc...

-Bell will be 14 by canon timeline, but he's as tall as a 16-17 year old teenager. He has a lean body yet his abs and muscles are very, very prominent.

**Monsters, will obviously, be a lot stronger than what is depicted in the manga. **

**Dragons, for one, will be the huge motherfucking badasses we have all come to know and love. So quite literally they are one of the strongest spawns in the dungeon. Level 7 Standard Monsters by themselves and higher.**

**Alright let's get started...**

**XXXXX-**Chapter 2: The Legendary Cleric**-XXXXX**

"…Mmmm."

The base of Hestia Familia was the average two-storey house I had previously arrived at.

Because it was built in the outer areas of the city, the sound of the morning birds chirping could be heard here. I confirmed that it was morning and woke up from my bed at the stated time.

Because my home country was at the countryside, I had developed a habit of doing farm work in the morning, so I already had this biological clock.

(…It should be just five o clock.)

Just in case, I stuck out my head from the sofa to confirm it with the clock hanging on the wall.

The "Magic Stone Lamp" that was developed from the magic stone technology, was shining dimly on the ceiling, so even if it was underground, the room was not completely surrounded by darkness. It had the effect of allowing the naked eye to observe the surroundings.

Kami-sama had also praised the human technology of this "Magic Stone Lamp" as "really handy and flexible." Just because it was an object that made even gods exclaim, you could realize the greatness of the magic stone products that once were known as the "Century's greatest invention".

Yesterday, after finishing the feast with Kami-sama, as usual, I gave the bed to Kami-sama and slept on the sofa. It was narrow, but I was already accustomed to it.

After I blinked a few times, I prepared to get up to wash my face…when I suddenly noticed.

Besides the blankets, there was a round object pressing onto my body. Very soft. Because I wasn't mistreated by it, I didn't't notice it earlier.

With a question mark inside my heart, my hand reached out towards the unknown round object…and I instantly understood. It was Kami-sama.

She had buried her head in my chest and was fast asleep. Although I was shocked, I immediately leaked out a wry smile.

_Rather elastic and soft...7 out of 10!_

Yeah, his standards for oppai were really high. The women he had met formerly were of high standard...and he had met...a lot of them...in a rather intimate way...on a comfy, warm rectangular furniture...naked.

Is that enough clues for you guys? Wait who was I referring to again?

I could only sigh and think that anything could happen in this world. Okay, now it's trouble, what should I do?

It was easy to escape from the sofa without waking up Kami-sama, but how I should say it, I didn't't want to let go of this warm and comfortable existence. It was simply beyond a high-class pillow and worthy of the name god-class pillow.

I completely understood that even Familia that hold powerful weapons or items didn't have anything that could surpass this pillow. Kami-sama is pretty amazing.

I was a bit hesitant, but I still put my hand around Kami-sama's back and gently hugged her. The feeling was very soft.

Should I stay like this? Or escape? What to choose? What to choose?

Once my face was facing towards Kami-sama who was filled with a fragrance, Kami-sama issued out an "Mmmmm…" sound, shifted her lower body and rubbed her cheeks on my chest like a baby.

Oh she was good, if this was any other teenager she was doing this to he would've fallen for her trap.

But nah he had encountered this scenario far too many times too fall for it any longer.

I moved swiftly. Replacing my body with a real pillow. Kami-sama was now hugging it in my place.

Hestia was a good kid, ironic since she's technically older than me, but she could be a bit clingy sometimes.

As I made my way downstairs towards the kitchen to cook a nice breakfast for both of them. When I had shut the door, I had briefly heard a mutter from Hestia.

"...Bell-kun, you idiot. Hmmmm."

I smiled, she was definitely pouting right about now. How cute!

It was time to put my Master-Class Cooking Skills to use.

Seriously, Kami-sama had no housewife skills at all.

It was a good thing that Cooking was something I enjoyed.

I had a distinct feeling that without me, she would probably be eating potato croquettes right now after receiving low pay from a job at the groceries store or cafe or something like that.

Yes, even Kami-sama was susceptible to manual labour in the Lower Realms.

Gods were forbidden by the Creator God himself to use their powers, though some of them did sneakily break that rule.

But apparently Heaven was just that boring...boring enough to make them come here, despite the restriction.

Most of them were successful even without their powers, often dabbling in Life Skills like Smithing, Potion-making, Tailoring or Cooking.

There were some Familia that preferred reputation by battling or adventuring in the front lines, like that Loki Familia I had heard about from Eina.

"...morning, Bell-kun." Looks like Kami-sama decided to join the table.

"Good Morning, Kami-sama! Did you sleep well?"

Her response was a cute pout.

"Muoooh, Bell-kun, you meanie!"

"Hehe sorry had to cook, I made lots of pancakes by the way, eat up." Yeah, Kami-sama absolutely loved pancakes...and meat...and rice...and a dozen of other recipes. She just really, really loved eating.

Her expression brightened up immediately at the mention of food. As expected of Kami-sama.

"Yay, you always cook delicious food. It's been a while since I've had your cooking."

Yep. It has been a while, hasn't it. I hadn't returned from the dungeon for 3 days straight.

This was a normal thing for me...to be gone from civilisation for several days in a row.

"So where did you go for last few days Bell-kun?" Ah the usual question.

"Secret~ Kami-sama, I didn't tell you last time, and I'm certainly not going to tell you this time." Responded with the usual reply.

"Muoooh!" And the same reaction from Kami-sama.

This was the usual routine every time I came back home.

It's not that we weren't close. Oh we had a very good relationship. It's just that I liked to keep my privacy.

The fact that rookie adventurers don't usually have a habit of disappearing notwithstanding.

Yep, Kami-sama still thought I was a 'rookie'.

But it was a reasonable assumption.

Old Age adventurers never had to sign up or make an ID at some adventurer's guild. Back in the day, people just went in, kicked ass and went back home...so much simpler. But nowadays people had to be sign up at the guild.

Most of the Old Age Adventurers ignored this rule and stayed independent. But they had to exchange magic stones for gold through the black market nowadays. Guild-financed businesses were off-limits to them, they couldn't participate in guild-hosted tournaments or events which granted huge prizes and all-in-all...it was just so freaking troublesome. Not to mention if an independent adventurer wanted to go down or up a floor they had to manually find the stairs that leads to a lower or upper floor instead of using the dimensional portal on each [Floor City].

The only good thing about being independent is that one could access all the discovered levels of the Dungeon without restriction, without being monitored by the guild.

It's why the guild had such a hard time keeping track of [Level 7 Adventurers and higher] simply because most of them were Old Age adventurers.

A few weeks ago I had signed up at the guild as a 'new' adventurer. Since no-one really saw my face under my former crimson-black helmet, it was just more convenient to build a new career.

Sure Kami-sama was worried for me the first few times I went out like this. But eventually, over the year, she got used to it. Though she did ask me what I was doing once in a while, she didn't pursue the matter as long as I didn't come back with any grave injuries.

"Bell-kun, one of these days!"

"Don't worry Kami-sama, I'm perfectly fine. You have nothing to worry about."

"But still..."

"I won't take you out for dinner~" In an instant, she understood the underlying message.

"Muoooh no fair, Bell-kun!"

"Hehe, never said I wouldn't play dirty."

"Just remember you promised."

"Yep, I'll definitely take you out for dinner tonight?"

She shook her head, I was confused.

"Is there something going on tonight?"

"Ah, no, I was invited to a friend's banquet for tomorrow night. I have to stay at a distant city for quite some time."

"Oh, well, have fun then."

"I wanted to pick out a dress for the banquet...I was hoping you could come with me to the shopping district." She asked shyly.

Huh, could it be?

The famous [Shopping Date] scenario! With a goddess no less!

Where the boy goes to a clothing shop with girls, the girl wears a huge assortment of dresses while blushing profoundly! Where the girl picks up a dress, hides behind it and asks her date to buy it with a profoundly adorable expression?

Oh, heck yeah!

He hadn't encountered this scenario in ages!

"Sure Kami-sama."

**XXXXX-**Shopping District**-XXXXX**

It's been a while since I've been here.

It's a rather crowded place, especially during the mornings.

"Bell-kun come on hurry, let's go buy some new clothes!" Of course Kami-sama, being her energetic self, ignored the bustling crowd on the main road.

But it was true, I really needed some new clothes. Most of my idle ones back in my wardrobe are really old or tattered due to extreme damage.

Kami-sama was getting too far ahead. I should catch up lest we get separated.

Taking a step forward, as soon as my outstretched limb was about to make contact with the floor an unpleasant feeling hit me.

My keen senses could detect an outburst of pure, unadulterated emotion directed straight towards me. From where, that is, was the question.

It wasn't a feeling that provoked a sense of danger, no, but it felt disturbing...like when a predator is looking at a delicious piece of meat dangling in front of it or when a stalker was staring at an idol in the dark alleyway.

Lust, hunger, arousal...all these adult-related feelings hit me instantly.

I turned. Where was that feeling coming from?

There were several maids serving customers in an open outdoor cafe,

A family of two adults and three children eating ice cream together.

A silver-haired woman looking onto the street from the second floor of a different cafe.

Wait a minute.

As I was about to move my head to look at another direction, I hastily turned back to the second floor of that cafe. Only this time...there was no silver-haired woman.

There was no mistake...that woman was staring at me before.

That feeling was coming from her, I knew...because only someone that had the same aura as Kami-sama could project such strong, unrestricted emotions.

I had no time to ponder however as someone distracted me from my thoughts.

"Bell-kun, is that you!?"

"!"

"My goodness, it is you!" The feeling of lust from before was gone now, immediately replaced by a soothing sensation from someone behind me.

I changed my posture once again,straightening myself, as I turned around to face whoever was talking to me.

I was shocked...a familiar face!?

It was a beautiful blonde-hair, long and wavy, 19-year old woman wearing a modified version of a church robe. There was no hood revealing a dazzling complexion enhanced by an equally dazzling smile. The robe was pure white in colour together with a few gold outlines, decorated by silver ornaments. There was a necklace with a sign of the cross between her ample bosom, one that surpassed even Kami-sama's. Looking lower, one could spot perfect hips followed by a pair of creamy thighs revealed by slits on both sides of the bottom part of her robes.

If one made a comparison, she would look similar to one of those elven princesses with long blonde hair and big breasts except without the pointing ears.

Only one woman remotely matched these exact high-quality, angelic features.

"...Gabriel?"

Her response was only a tilt of her head revealing her delicate-looking neck, a widening of her smile and her eyes closing. That posture was formidable...it's forbidden to be that simultaneously cute and sexy, Gabriel!

**A/N: yes, if you get the reference, it's that Gabriel! It's obvious she's religious, it's kind of implied that's she beautiful beyond measure and she's wearing pure white and gold colours, heck the name by itself is a big indicator to what her true identity is. The word 'Angelic' is pun-intended.**

As if she could understand my thoughts, her eyes opened to reveal a cheeky, knowing look.

"Took you long enough, Bell-kun." She teased.

I could only remain gawking.

"He-hey Gabriel...it's been a long time." Though she was a familiar person, it was still kind of hard to expect one of the Top 5 Hottest Women under the Heavens (Goddesses included) to talk to you due to a random meeting.

That being said...

"How is it that you're here without being noticed?" It was kind of hard for people to ignore the presence of one of the most beautiful women alive.

She pouted, of course.

"Meanie, is that the first thing you say when old-time friends reunite?"

"Haha sorry, just curious, it's not everyday when one meets one of the most popular/beautiful adventurers out in public without being swarmed by a bunch of her fans." I noticed the slight reddening of her cheeks for a moment before she covered it with one of her hands.

"Oh you flatterer, you!" She playfully pushed my chest away with her other hand.

"It's not flattery if its the truth." Now we were really getting off topic, how did our meeting even come to this corny exchange of words?

"Well, I guess you deserve to know then as a reward."

She bent her upper body forwards until her head was right, up close to mine.

"Magic."

True, now that she said that, it was kind of obvious that there was an unusual amount of mana scattered around the vicinity. Kind of surprising I hadn't figured it out sooner.

Magic and Seals/Runes solved a lot of things. Put them together and you could practically solve everything.

"So how has your career been?" I was so out of touch with the current quota that I had practically no idea who was famous and who was dangerous.

A prime example was the women before me.

In a nutshell, we used to form a party together for random yet enjoyable raids.

The last time they had met, she was primarily the healer of our party.

A high-tier Level 7 Sage-class Mage and Master-class Cleric at the age of 17 1/2!

But that was around a year ago, when she didn't have God's Grace. Who knows how far she's progressed now. She may even be part of a Familia now. It was hard to say.

"Very good thank you. Though it's not as fun compared to the old days." She had a look of longing as she stared at me. Yes, indeed, in the old days, things were so much more enjoyable, simple even.

But the Gods kind of ruined that fun with their interference and subtle-ish power plays.

"Are you still an adventurer, I haven't heard much news on the old gang."

"Yes, well not really. I've got obligations to my Familia now. Most of my Familia members are currently in Egypt now, we're trying to capture the Sphinx under request of The Pharaoh for healthier diplomatic relations."

Ah yes, divine politics.

It's either a battle between Familia or a Familia of one faction trying to appease an important God of another faction.

There are multiple factions out in the world. In this context, they are basically a bunch of Gods and their Familia grouped together and ruled by a singular God, typically the strongest.

Famous examples were...

The [Shinto] faction with Izunami and Izanagi, lovers, as the leaders.

The [Greek] faction with Zeus, Poseidon and Hades as the trinity leaders. Zeus being the top dog out of the three.

The [Norse] faction with Odin as the leader. Apparently Thor, Odin's son, was next in line.

The afore-mentioned factions were three of the more famous/strongest/important factions in the world. Sure there were a lot of other factions, but most of them fell under their leadership.

I had heard of Egypt before, it was really far away, overseas even.

"Your faction must be pretty high up there in the food chain if you're handling international affairs."

"Hehe...yes...quite high up there." I could detect an underlying tone of guilt.

Strange...

"Anyway I was hoping that-" "Bell-kun where are you?" Gabriel was quickly interrupted.

Kami-sama was heading towards us.

"Bell-kun there you are! I was worried when-" Kami-sama stopped talking when she laid eyes on Gabriel.

Her eyes narrowed considerably when she stared at the blonde woman across her.

"And just who are you?" Kami-sama asked rudely. I would've face palmed usually, but Gabriel was giggling next to me. Yep, that's what I liked about her, she rarely took offence to anything, so pure of heart.

"Kami-sama, this is Gabriel. Gabriel, this is Hestia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hestia-sama." Gabriel reached out for a handshake.

"Wait...Gabriel!? You mean **The **Gabriel? One of the most famous female adventurers of the Old Age? You don't look like her."

What? My confusion was answered quickly by Gabriel though.

"Oh my bad, I'm sorry, my magic prevents anyone from truly recognising my presence. Illusion magic to prevent anyone from thinking something like 'it's Gabriel-sama"! I am very sorry for affecting you too!" She bowed a little. He could feel the mana was no longer passing through Hestia, thus no longer affecting her.

It was kind of a unspoken law to never cast magic on a god. Even if it's a non-combat spell. Gods were very easily provoked, they were like spoiled children that way.

I was surprised though. Her magic was strong enough to bypass the mental barriers of a god!

His earlier suspicions were true. She had gotten a lot of stronger!

Illusion magic only works on those who have less mana then the mana put into the illusion spell. True, Hestia was a young goddess and had no experience whatsoever in the magic arts, but she was a goddess nonetheless.

Those of divine origins, with no exceptions, always had a powerful affinity for magic and thus a huge capacity of mana at their disposal even in birth. For Gabriel to affect Hestia with simply illusion magic was a testament to her current power.

This could only mean one thing...

Gabriel had probably reached Emperor-Class as a Mage or a level that surpasses even that!

That was a huge jump in power in just two years. From Sage-Class to Emperor-Class possibly higher was astounding progress.

I could tell Kami-sama was thinking the same thing if the shocked look on her face was any indication.

Gabriel was still smiling.

Kami-sama took a deep breath and reached her hand forward. The two women shook hands.

To see Kami-sama shake hands with a women so much taller than her with a serious expression was kind of funny.

Given that her serious expression was directed right towards Gabriel's bosom. He could definitely predict what she was thinking right now. Something along the lines...

_Her breasts are bigger than mine!_

Kami-sama was quite proud of her assets if nothing else. To see someone match them in size made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, especially when that said-someone was more beautiful than Kami-sama.

But he had only known two women in his life, Gabriel included, that could match Kami-sama in chest size and that was only because the tall heights of both women accentuated their chests.

"Gabriel-san, I can't believe I'm talking with such a legendary figure such as yourself. I'm a big fan of every member of the [CrimsonHart Crusaders]."

It's true. Kami-sama was a hardcore fan of the Old Age adventurers. Compared to today, when raids were usually operated by only those in the same Familia, raids in the past were operated by a [Party] which was the closest thing to a [Familia].

The most prominent [Party] was the [CrimsonHart Crusaders], a group of eight close friends led by the [Crimson Goddess] and the [Crimson Conqueror]. Yeah...we really needed to work on our naming back in the day.

We were that obsessed with crimson. It was just an awesome colour.

Back to Kami-sama. She was a diehard fan of them, their feats in the dungeon as well as their victories over multiple legendary creatures around the world was the stuff of awesomeness.

Apparently the Gods in Heaven, who were so bored, were watching TV one day and coincidentally came across one of their battles. Kami-sama said that the Gods favourite hobby back then, when the party still existed, was watching them in action ever since.

It's probably why the Gods were so obsessed with finding Old Age adventurers for their Familia.

"Thank you! It's wonderful to hear such admiration from a god even. But I must say..." Gabriel looked between me and Kami-sama.

Kami-sama became embarrassed on a random note.

"Oh sorry...I am the goddess of Bell-kun's Familia. I was so surprised that I forgot to introduce myself properly teehee." I smiled at that last comment.

But Gabriel was looking shocked. She muttered it out quietly but I heard her all the same.

"You're...his goddess?" The sad tone was not missed by me. She had put the obvious pieces together.

Gabriel looked at me. I looked away in shame. The message in that look was obvious.

_What happened to her?_

I couldn't bring myself to look back, not in front of Hestia.

"Yep, we formed a Familia a year ago." Hestia replied back cheerfully.

"...near the time of the [Burning of Falias]!" Gabriel whispered.

_She's caught on..._

Falias was the Irish equivalent to Heaven. It was the [Paradise City of Irish Gods], Macha's former homeland.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting both of you. I must attend to some important business now."

"Um...can I request something of you."

"Yes?" Kami-sama looked shy and hesitant for some reason. Until she reached for something behind her.

It was an old group photo of the [CrimsonHart Crusaders].

I wasn't surprised that she was holding onto it. She used an entire cabinet to worship them.

"Can I please have your autograph?"

"Ufufufu, sure."

While she was scribbling down on the photo, I wanted to ask her something. But Kami-sama asked her for me.

"Oh yeah, what Familia are you a part of, Gabriel-san?"

She looked towards me bearing a wry smile.

"Secret!" She winked at both of us.

"Gabriel..."

"Shhhh...You don't have to say anything." She reassured him gently placing a finger on his lips as she handed the signed photo to Kami-sama, who was staring at them incredulously.

I was kind of surprised how restrained Kami-sama was during their interaction. Usually when I interact with another woman she gets really overprotective or becomes really pissed off.

My relief was cut short when Gabriel suddenly embraced me, lovingly so. I could see several veins pop out on Kami-sama's forehead.

Was Gabriel doing this intentionally?...Nah she's too kind-hearted to purposefully provoke someone.

Her warm breath softly reached my ear.

"Shall we catch up during dinner." She huskily asked.

So...so aggressive? Was this person hugging me really Gabriel? Because the innocent, naive, kind-hearted, mostly pacifistic Gabriel would never be one to initiate a date. Two years must've been a really long time.

"Su-Sure..." Kami-sama's mood shifted from angry to gloomy. It was really time to end this conversation.

"Alright I'll see you tonight then..." She called out. Also being able to read the situation.

_At our former hangout place, [The Mistress of Abundance]? _She telepathically said.

_Sure..._ It would be nice to have dinner in the place they had all first met together.

Waving goodbye, someone grabbed my ear and yanked it. Kami-sama was really pissed.

Hahahaha I see. Even if she's a fan, absolutely no girl will touch her child. She was probably thinking something along those lines.

"Bell-kun!" She said sweetly, too sweetly. "You've got some explaining to do!"

"Ahahaha...ummm..." Kami-sama looked expectantly at me.

I was screwed.

**XXXXX-some random shop-XXXXX**

It's been around a few dozen minutes before we entered a shop.

You would think it would take only a few minutes walking from a house to a shop. But noooo! Kami-sama decided to spend more time to interrogate me.

After several dozen attempts at asking about my relation with Gabriel and several dozen failed attempts at feigning ignorance, Kami-sama finally gave up.

Though she was extremely moody after she stopped interrogating me. It was kind of cute actually.

"Welcome, customer."

A female staff greeted us.

But I wasn't really focusing on her. What I was most curious about was the wears behind her.

Glancing over the staff's shoulder. I saw a jet-black open jacket and pants dangling on a metal pole.

It appealed to me almost immediately.

So I ran towards it, ran to the counter and brought out some money in a flash.

"I want a 100 of these!"

Let it not be said that Bell only operated in crimson, black or sometimes in very, very, very, very dark red.

Hestia was well aware of Bell's fanatical obsession with these colours. So she face-palmed, while trying to hide her amused smile.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Walking on this endless Main Street.

The surrounding scenery was completely different from what it was during morning.

It had completely put up its 'night-time appearance' so to speak.

The crowd was far less, yet there was a rowdy, good-natured atmosphere. One full of passion and joy. Even the Demi-humans were cheerful.

The hobbits and gnomes were dancing around, holding onto each other's shoulders, as they sang happily with drinks in hand. Mighty warriors forming circles around several campfires in the background as they celebrated a good day's hunt.

Since there were female beast-men with animal ears and tails wearing bold outfits attracting customers, and there were also Amazon, who were wearing outfits even more outrageous than theirs, constantly ignoring the surrounding gazes and walking with a faint smile. But cute maids and amazons weren't what I was looking forward to seeing...this time.

It was the chance to get reacquainted with a female friend, whose company I rather enjoyed.

I was kind of worried though.

I wasn't wearing anything fancy or formal. This was just a casual dinner, nothing too romantic, calm down. Besides my friends weren't ones for fancy, they preferred being ordinary in their downtime...hopefully that remained true over the years.

"It feels like yesterday...when we, all, last came here."

It really did feel like that. A flashback of the good old times.

Eight friends gathered around the table as they celebrated a good day's hunt just like the other adventurers nearby.

Macha, me, Gabriel, Arthurius, Roland, Merlin, Siegfried and Evangeline.

I miss them.

[The Mistress of Abundance] held a lot of memories for him.

I opened the door and walked in.

What I first saw was a well-developed female dwarf serving food at the counter — —It should be the boss —Then, I saw a little of the kitchen, where the female cat people with animal ears and tails were busy working and several waitress, of multiple races, taking orders with a smile.

Now where was...

"Bell-san!"

"Hmmm? Oh...Seal?"

A waitress had approached me.

She was wearing a white blouse and a leaf-colored knee-length long skirt. On top of this was also a slightly long half apron around her waist.

Her black hair was tied into a small knot, and a tail was hanging down below that knot. Looks like it was a type of ponytail. Her eyes, that had the same colour as her hair, were seemingly innocent and cute. Her milky white and smooth gentle face had a joyful expression.

"Bell-san it's been so long since you've last visited!"

"We've got a customer! It's Bell-san!" She shouted back to the kitchen. The cooks and the dwarf lady looked up towards the door. They had a look of recognition as they saw me, some of the staff, assumably the newer ones, had no idea what was going on, all the customers shared that thought.

The ones working in the bar or the kitchen looked extremely happy.

Did she really have to report that? I'm not some famous celebrity...to the public's knowledge that is.

"Come with me please. Gabriel-san is waiting for you, she's already ordered your favourite."

"Guess it can't be helped then." I sighed as she dragged me upstairs.

As I looked around, in the corner, there right next to the window. I saw Gabriel cheerfully waving at me. She wasn't wearing a robe and nobody was gawking at her beauty, illusion magic again eh?

Being a first-class beauty must be extremely tiresome.

I was relieved however. I was right in assuming that this was just a casual dinner. Gabriel was only wearing a simple white blouse and jeans, a white and golden handbag was resting next to her on the chair.

They both stared at each other. Unknown to the other, they were both assessing each other's choice of clothes.

Unknown to both of them, they thought the same thing. They were both wearing really, really simple clothing yet...

_She's so sexy..._ I was mostly referring to her cleavage, which was emphasised by the tightness of her blouse, but then again...any clothing would emphasise it.

_He's so handsome..._ She was staring right at his chest. That jet-black jacket was just brought, she could tell, but Bell was wearing nothing underneath. Instead the jacket was left unzipped as it revealed perfect abs for all to see. She was blushing madly at Bell's daring choice of clothing.

"Hey, Gabriel! Were you waiting long?"

"Uhhh...n-no..."

I sat down on the opposite side of the table. Seal followed closely behind.

"I already ordered your favourite, Bell-kun. Does stir-fry noodles sound good to you?"

"Yep!" Noodles were always good.

"And Seal, I'll be having lasagna, any drinks Bell-kun?"

"Mmmm, honey dew milk tea then."

"Okay then." She looked up towards Seal. "Can you also put two straws..."

Wait, what?

"...I'll leave dessert to your discretion." Seal bowed and departed, but looked back before she went back to the kitchen."it's good to see you again, Bell-san, Mia mama and the others have missed you."

"Hehe sorry, I'll be sure to come here frequently then." That earned a smile from the waitress. I had the feeling I had just forgotten something.

"Everyone would be delighted to see you here again." With that she ran back to the kitchen.

The huge dwarf lady, working at the bar, was Mia mama. When Seal came near, Mia mama was immediately talking to her probably discussing my sudden visit.

She was quite busy since [The Mistress of Abundance] was really popular, especially with their famous ale! Which was probably why the boss couldn't come up to our table and talk to us herself. We were her first customers after all, after we helped her build the business, when she retired from being an adventurer.

That being said it was nice to be back here. There were some unfamiliar faces but, all in all, the atmosphere was still the same. Cheery and welcoming.

That being said, there was an abundant amount of joy and happiness coming from the one in front of me.

It was one of his [Gifts] to sense emotion and strong presences to a higher degree than even most animals.

Sometimes it was inconvenient, but for times like these...it was the perfect ability.

"I've missed this place." Gabriel said longingly. Guess I wasn't the only one to reminisce about the good old times.

"I've been so busy with international relations and Dungeon expeditions that I rarely had the time to relax. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to be myself."

"Well, glad I could help I guess." But deep inside, I knew that I was the one who was more grateful. It was good to see her after so long.

"By the way, Gabriel, how long will you be staying?"

"Just for this month, I came here to supervise the joint effort of managing an upcoming event with the Ganesh Familia. The remaining time after that is free-time." I could feel a peg of guilt surging from her, but I paid it no mind.

"I see, that's good then." Smiling inwardly, I mentally fist-pumped. A month was a satisfactory amount of time to reconnect.

"I... I was hoping we could explore together like we used to." She suddenly asked with those puppy dog eyes. Damn I wasn't fast enough to avoid that mentally super-effective attack.

"That...that would be nice."

"It's a date then!" She said happily.

"But..."

"Let's form a [Party]!" She said before I could even finish my sentence.

"Uhhh there's no such thing anymore Gabriel. Anyway wouldn't your Familia get mad at you for exploring with someone who's not part of the Familia?" Familia are really protective with their members or plain secretive, anyone who's not part of the group is automatically seen as some kind of threat or spy.

"Don't worry, I'm one of the core members of my Familia so the members trust me."

"Still won't the male members kind of...you know, get jealous? I don't really want to cause trouble with any Familia if I can help it." You wouldn't expect adventurers to be that petty, but you would be wrong.

"Oh so long as no one recognises us , we'll be fine." She said nonchalantly.

"Here's your order!" Oh, Seal had just returned, with our meals in hand.

"One stir-fry noodles, one plate of lasagna and...one glass of honey dew milk tea...for the two of you."

Oh, that's what I had forgotten. I was kind of blushing by then...I just wasn't used to Gabriel being that aggressive.

"Ufufu, thank you Seal-san." One would expect that to be the cue for Seal to leave, but no. She took a circular chair from the side of the wall and sat on the outer side of the table.

"Uhhh don't you have to work Seal?"

"Nope! Mia mama gave me some time off. We have enough waitresses."

Gabriel wasn't bothered but I was...kind of. Oh well, the more the merrier.

So we chatted and chatted and chatted and chatted while we ate.

**40 minutes later...**

"Well guess I'll bring these plates back now. I'll be back with the dessert." Seal left, and Gabriel suddenly wore a serious look."

"Bell, there's a matter I want to discuss with you before we finish up."

"Yes?" This was it, this was probably the real reason why Gabriel invited me to dinner.

Gabriel took a deep breath.

"Bell-kun...will you join my Familia?"

I stopped breathing for a moment. That was certainly unexpected.

"W-what?"

"If someone like you were to join our ranks, my God would be extremely pleased. Not to mention..." She said the last part in a lower tone "...we would be together...forever."

I didn't hear the last part nor could I see the blush on her face.

"So how about it?"

"No. I'm sorry, but I have to refuse your offer. I'm already in a Familia."

"But why Bell-kun? You deserve so much more than that. With your skills, you would be welcomed into any Familia. Why does it have to be Hestia's which has no other members?"

"...I owe my life to her. Back then, she saved my life when I was on the brink of dying and for that, I will always be indebted to her."

"Then we can-"

We were interrupted when the bar broke into a commotion. We looked around and saw that everyone was looking at a group of ten people that had just entered.

They sat near the bar, directly opposite from the corner we were sitting at.

They had a strong presence, clearly strong adventurers...

Among them...

Aizu Wallenstein! Her aura was uncontrolled, wild even, but it had a radiance that surpassed her peers.

"...the [Sword Princess]! I didn't think I would see her here." Gabriel muttered out. It seems she was quite familiar with Aizu.

"You know her, Gabriel?"

"I've met her, when she was young, during my visits to Europe." What would she be doing in France? Gabriel noticed my confusion and answered promptly.

"Roland lives there now. He serves as the personal champion of Emperor Charlemagne. I would sometimes visit him in the palace. Two years ago, he took on an apprentice."

"Ah, so Aizu Wallenstein was taught by Roland huh. Interesting."

"Yes, I had thought you would catch on instantly, it's public knowledge by now. It's not everyday when the [Sword King] takes on an apprentice. It's where her nickname, [Sword Princess] comes from."

"Oh, makes sense." It was kind of funny. Just this morning and yesterday, when I was trying to search for info on Aizu nothing substantial came up other than that she started going into the dungeons with the Old Age adventurers at the age of 7. That was even younger than I was when I started, though apparently her role was more like a [Supporter].

"That sword she's carrying is called the Ex-Durandal, a gift from Roland. It's made from the same metal as Roland's Durandal except that it places more emphasis on speed rather than power."

True, Roland always did prefer power over speed. His favourite sword was the Durandal, a huge black great-sword with a golden cross on the blade. That didn't mean he was slow though, no he was still pretty fast but his destructive power...well it was certainly a sight to behold.

The sword Aizu was carrying around her waist was really thin with an unusual S-like guard wrapping itself around half the mithril hilt, it was so thin that it border-lined between a katana to a rapier.

I tried listening to my surroundings, I wondered what they thought.

Once the crowd realised the newcomers were the Loki Familia, the commotion grew louder.

Some of the male customers even whistled at the female members of the group.

"Isn't that...?" "Yeah they're the core members of the Loki Familia!"

"OMG! It's the legendary Sword Princess!"

Everyone was hustling up as if they were having a secret talk.

As for me, I couldn't care less anymore. Gabriel was far more important right now.

"Gabriel, I..."

"Alllrighttt, good work in the dungeon expedition everyone! Let's have a feast! Cheers!"

I could hear them from across the place. Earlier, everyone was busy bantering so we tuned them out. But now every customer spoke in a lower tone so that only the Loki Familia could be heard across the entire shop.

Afterwards, members of the Loki Familia began to party. Gachin!, they used the beer filled glasses to have a toast, then placed the food and wine into their mouths. Wallenstein is a small eater, she unhurriedly enjoyed her dinner. Once the Loki Familia entered into a festive atmosphere, the other customers also just remembered and continued to enjoy their food and drinks.

" The Loki Familia are regulars here. This is because this restaurant was liked by their goddess Loki-sama." Gabriel informed me. But she didn't forget about our discussion either, she held a arm up signalling me to wait. It seems we would be talking about this later.

...

"Right Aizu. Is it true about yesterday?"

"Yesterday...?"

"Didn't you hear, apparently some adventurer on the fifth floor saw a man tossing around a Minotaur...with his bare hand! With only one hand! That guy must have some insane STR stats."

"Pfffttt what a load of bull. Not even you could do that, and you're an Amazon for God's sake!" The beast man I had met yesterday yelled back to an Amazon who was sitting next to Aizu.

Yeah Amazons were one of the strongest Demi-human races in the world, they surpass even the Dwarves in strength despite their lean build. I had met several villages full of those insanely strong...hormonal women.

I shivered at the thought of them...I could remember running across an entire floor for gods sake...as a huge stampede of lustful women chased after me or more specifically 'Bell Jr.'.

It was nice at first, the long nights of awesome sex, but when several women come together, do whatever the hell girls do when they're together at night and hear rumours of a man who could outlast 13 Amazons, at the same time, in a orgy. Well, let it be known that Amazons were said to have the most stamina in all things physical, before they met me of course...and to be beaten for the first time, especially 13 at the same time, got them really excited.

"Owowowow!" As if she could see my perverted thoughts, Gabriel pulled on my cheeks while pouting.

"Pervert."

"Sorry!" I said cheekily.

"Was it that Minotaur that had escaped from us on the 17th Floor?"

"Maybe I don't know, we never saw it."

"Wow, that's a first. A monster actually got away from the Sword Princess?"

"I blame that pipsqueak supporter on the upper floor." Did that beast man just refer to me as a pipsqueak?

"Bert, he was probably shocked from seeing a Minotaur on the upper floors." The amazon had argued back. "Maybe he got the directions wrong due to panic."

"So? It's his fault for being a weakling. If that's all it takes to scare you, then that weakling shouldn't be in the dungeon in the first place!"

"Shut it, Bert." A blonde hair elf lady spoke while sipping on her glass of wine. "It's our fault. We were the ones who let it escape from the 17th floor. We should be the ones apologising to the boy for our mistake." Yeah! I mean seriously how do you let a Minotaur run across 12 floors? What a noob mistake.

Floors were big, and I mean REALLY big. It takes ages just to map out one floor. Even I hadn't taken the time to map out each floor entirely, we just went on raids and to the boss dungeon of every floor. To let a monster run up 12 floors was quite frankly humiliating.

Floors were like the size of a thousand cities put together. On each floor were dozens of sub-dungeons that people could raid. For each floor there is one special sub-dungeon called the boss dungeon where the strongest monster of the floor resides.

These terms applied for the first 49 floors. For the 50th floor and above, monsters start getting so impossibly large in number that it was practically insane to go solo on those floors. That is why those floors were classified as the front lines.

Sub-dungeons on the front lines were classified as expeditions due to their extremely long run times and hard difficulty.

But monsters were so frequent that adventurers spent most of their time there killing monsters rather than exploring.

"Bert..."

"Oh don't give me that scary look, Aizu, you know that it's true. The Dungeon isn't a place for the weak. That pipsqueak was even crying, how pathetic! Right Aizu, it was really disgusting, wasn't it?"

"Guys stop arguing, this is a celebration, your bickering is making the food go bad."

"..."

"It's because of supporters and all these rookies, that the appreciation for us real adventurers have fallen."

My eyes narrowed. Though my hair shadowed my face, I was beyond pissed. What right, did that arrogant bastard have to mock me? What right does a dog have to mock the resolve of thousands of adventurers out there, struggling to get past the upper floors?

Not to mention it was really fucking ironic that this dog was insulting the one who had built up the legendary status of the adventurers himself.

"..."

I was about to give that dog a piece of my mind. Surprisingly, Gabriel was the first to stand up.

"Gabriel?" Ignoring me, she strode off towards the Loki Familia. She wouldn't, would she? I could see Arthurius or Roland getting pissed off by such arrogance even if it wasn't directed to them. But Gabriel? Definitely not peace-loving Gabriel...oh fuck it, of course she could.

Shit was about to hit the fan. I highly doubted that, but my senses kept on telling me that.

Oy oy, this is Mia Mama's business. There's no way you're going to survive if you piss her off. Favourite customers or not.

But my worries were subdued by a sudden change. The atmosphere suddenly thickened in intensity, it was suddenly harder to move as if an invisible force was weighing me down.

Caught off guard, my knees bent a bit. I even had to use the chair for support.

The entire air was engulfed in insane amounts of mana. Was this Gabriel's doing?

I looked up. Gabriel was steadily approaching the group, coated in a thick amount of blue energy.

"What is this?" Some of the customers cried out. Others caught on quickly and looked towards Gabriel.

"Gabriel..." But I wasn't the one who whispered out her name. It was the tomboy that was leading the group into the shop before.

"Loki...I can't say its a pleasure to meet again...considering the circumstances." She eyed the beast man before looking back to the goddess.

"What the heck are you doing in a place like this?"

"I was having a good meal with my friend, until a certain pup had to ruin it with his disgusting mouth. It's about time you shut him up or I'll do it for you."

The looks of hostility exchanged between them was unnerving, but the members of the Loki Familia half stood up as they prepared themselves for an imminent fight. The one called Bert was, obviously enough, extremely offended by such a sudden threat.

"How dare you, you bit-grahhh!" The beast man was interrupted as the air around him distorted itself. Like earlier, except with a much higher intensity, Bert was forced to fall down onto the ground. Gabriel's hand was stretched out.

"Shut up." She said coldly. "Do you really want to die that bad?"

But her mana output was countered by another that matched it.

Loki stood between Gabriel and Bert. As did the other members of her Familia.

"You dare to harm one of my children? A child of a goddess, no less?"

"What if I am?"

"You forget your place, girl. My powers may be restricted in the Lower Real a, but it's enough to teach you your place."

**A/N: I know the power of the gods are meant to be completely restricted, but I changed it so that gods could use 20% of their power.**

"Oh really. Let's see if that's statement is true."

The two unleashed more of their power. Facing off as their mana output increased in power, neither of them backed off.

This standoff continued on for a while, despite the restriction placed on every god and goddess everyone thought that the flat-chest goddess would prevail in the end, after all no human was capable of beating a god they thought.

But to me, it was obvious who was winning. Despite the impressive immense of energy leaking out, Loki was actually exerting some effort in spiking her energy levels while Gabriel was looking down at Loki with a nonchalant expression.

It was definitely time to stop this!

I ran up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Naturally she stopped at the unexpected contact. She suddenly couldn't control her mana as it dispersed randomly.

Mana Demolition!

A technique I had learnt, somehow, during one of my daily training sessions. It just came to me one day but there were no magic books that had details of this spell. Nonetheless, it was highly useful against magic practitioners, especially the stronger they are.

There are two variations: one was simply releasing a burst of concentrated mana at a person or mana-filled object and the mana inside said person or object would be blown away.

The other was one that required me to be somehow connected with the target, as long as I was I could disturb the target's control of his or her mana.

Obviously, I was using the second variant on Gabriel.

"Bell-kun?"

"That's enough, Gabriel. Stand down, this is a goddess you're addressing."

"...sorry."

"Hey! It's you, you asshole!" Oh the dog had recognised me.

"Sup!"

"Sup? That's all you can say, how dare you, you lowly supporter!" Gabriel was about to unleash her fury, but I stopped her. Loki also restrained Bert from approaching us.

"And just who are you?" Loki asked suspiciously. But it was obvious to anyone that she was still pissed from such a daring confrontation.

"Oh just an acquaintance of Gabriel's. I am deeply sorry for disturbing your meal." I bowed down, I saw the look of anguish on Gabriel's face at my gesture. Such an expression did not suit her beautiful face.

"Now just what is going on here?" Mia mama had just returned from the back. Oh shit.

"Uh hi, Mia...heheh!"

"That's all you can say, several months you haven't visited and that's all you can say, brat!? Why I should give you a spanking right now!"

"Eek! Forgive me." Squealing uncharacteristically, I backed away in the opposite direction. Mia was bloody scary, more so than a dragon, when she was pissed.

"Forgive us for disturbing the festivities, Mia-san. I lost my temper childishly." She bowed towards the owner who had somewhat lost her anger. Seal had just arrived with three bowls of ice cream but the mood was ruined. There would be no time for ice cream tonight, I guess.

"Gabriel-san, Bell-kun?"

"Hehe, sorry Seal-san, guess we won't be having that dessert after all."

"I...I see..."

"Bell-kun...let's go." Gabriel grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me.

"Don't worry I'll be back, I promise and I'll pay you back tomorrow for the damages Mia." I said quickly, I laughed as I saw Mia mama throwing a tantrum just before we exited.

We ran off in the distance. Gabriel was still pissed. I didn't know why though, it's not like that doggy boy's words had any substance.

"This is what happens..."

"Hmmm?"

"This is what would happen if you stay in a low-class Familia. If you join my Familia, you'll be famous again but not as the [Crimson Conqueror] but just as Bell." We arrived at a fountain before Gabriel turned around and started talking to me.

"Gabriel, I don't mind. It was just some ignorant pup yapping his mouth. You shouldn't pay any mind."

"But I do! You're so gifted. So strong. So kind. So charismatic. You deserve so much more than this."

"Gabriel..."

"It hurts me. To see you like this. Your heart, the last time I saw you, it was brimming with such purity, emotion, life. Your presence was my drug, Bell-kun. But now, your heart..." She placed a hand on my chest.

"...it's drowning in sorrow. I can ease your suffering..." She rested her head on my chest. "...all you have to do, is to let me in your heart." Oh god, was she...was she confessing?

Backing away. She walked slowly in the opposite direction.

"I'll...I'll see you tomorrow morning at this place?"

At first, before we were interrupted, I was about to refuse her offer. But I just couldn't bring myself to refuse now.

"...yeah."

"...Bell-kun, just think about my offer. You belong with us, with me."

With that, she walked off.

I had to go home. I needed to contemplate a lot of things today.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"That was unusual, especially for her."

"I don't think I've ever seen her angry before." Gabriel was always happy! Pure of heart, skilled with the holy arts and a charismatic beauty, that was why she was the most favoured by our Familia's Kami-sama.

Even when people threatened or insulted her friends just a tad bit in the Familia, which was practically everyone (she was just that charismatic), not even she would get this angry.

This white-haired boy must be an extremely important person to her.

"Welcome back Gabriel..."

"Uriel...Michael..."

"How did the mission go?"

"He...doesn't want to join us...not yet."

"Mmmm shame, don't worry Gabriel you'll have another chance tomorrow." After all, she was the most enthusiastic about letting him join in on our ranks when we were discussing it with Kami-sama.

Now, for the secondary goal of this reconnaissance mission.

"So do you think its true?"

"Macha wasn't with him...they did everything together: shopping, eating, bathing...for her not to be together with Bell for an entire day...it...it must be true." She said that last bit with sadness...but he could sense...hope, love and shame, small amounts of it.

It was quite obvious to him. Gabriel was in love with Bell.

He didn't realise her feelings before. But her affections for Bell, the longer they were apart, grew to the point that she was unable to bear another moment without his company. It was why, Gabriel proposed to Kami-sama that they should induct him into the Familia.

But right now he was concerned with another interesting piece of news.

Approximately a year ago, Falias the home of Irish Gods was set on fire.

Macha was the only banished god from Falias and thus was the most likely suspect.

Nonetheless, the [Irish] Faction was in shambles ever since.

There were rumours amongst the gods that the disappearance of the Crimson Conqueror and the burning of Falias were linked events.

They had no idea how close were to the truth.

"Then it's true...Bell was there at the night of the burning."

"Yes..."

"But that could only mean..."

"That Bell-"

"Preposterous. It's impossible."

"Like it or not Uriel, Bell is the most likely suspect after Macha and everything fits."

"But, but..."

"Nuadha, the Irish God of Light, has been absent for all the meetings." He didn't say it, but they all understood the underlying message. Nuadha was killed.

"We have to accept the possibility..."

"...that for the first time in history, a human...has killed a god."

Such a notion, silenced the three of them. Such a notion, was terrifying.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

I was looking at a reflection of myself in the mirror.

I had just arrived home and the bed had never looked so comfortable before.

"I guess its time to go to sleep." He had turned his back on the mirror, which revealed a sacred text.

But that pattern was mostly hidden...by a scar.

Though most of the pattern was hidden there were a few bits and pieces that could be read, more specifically at the bottom.

**A/N: ... Means cannot be read due to scar.**

Bell Cranel

Lv 3

...

...

...

...

...

Skill

[Hero's Wish-{Gate of Babylon}]

[Single-Minded Pursuit]

[Satan's Devilry-{Master of 72 Pillars}]

[Satan's Devilry-{Prince of Darkness}]

[Hero's Wish-{Argonaut}]

...

[God's Authority-{Light's Judgement}]

Looking back towards the mirror to look at his broken sacred text. A voice resounded in his head.

_"...Godslayer."_ That voice made me grit my teeth in anger,

I needed sleep.

My thoughts dragged back to Gabriel. I clenched my fists.

Never again...

_"To think I would lose to a human."_

I am strong...

_"But it's too late."_

I am the absolute best...

_"She's gone..."_

Never again, will I shed tears...

_"Your beloved Macha is dead."_

Never again, will I be helpless!

_"You have failed!"_

Never again, will my dreams be crushed!

"_Dracula..."_

**Ooh boy, did that take me a while. I'll be sure to update soon. But anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it. This is a new series and I love it as well.**

**Hope you guys review and spread the word on the anime forum chats or something. It would be awesome to see this category get filled with other fanfic.**

**Cya, I'll be updating Pokemon next.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, hope you enjoy the next chapter of this story.**

**I have made changes to the last chapter.**

**Bell Cranel is no longer Level 10, he is now Level 3. **

**The reason why he is so low level despite being so strong is related to his potential which wasn't revealed due to his scar. Apparently the ways to level up is by doing something that the Creator God finds favourable or by maxing all your stats, which resets after you level up. The higher the potential you have the more harder it is to raise your stats but that also means that each stat boost you get is higher than those with lower potential.**

**To those who are wondering, killing a god is a very, very big deal. But that does not mean he is physically on par with the gods, keep in mind that he has pretty OP skills. Despite Bell favouring swords his main skill is actually magic and you know how it is in MMOs, mages deal a lot of damage but they have lower STR and DEF in comparison, Bell is no exception, it's just that he has higher stats than the norm.**

**Oh yeah, you will notice mood swings in Bell between morning and night. That is related to his powers.**

**If you guys are wondering about Aizu's relationship with Bell; well let's just say I'll be inserting some irony. It links back to the days when Bell was the Crimson Conqueror and Aizu was still a newbie. You get what I mean; this time instead of the boy falling in love with the girl because she saved him it's the other way around...though not to the point where she loves him, more like idolises him though that may change. **

**XXXXX-**Chapter 3: The Challenge**-XXXXX**

"AHHHH This is impossible!" Kami-sama cried out in frustration.

It seems it really was impossible to make any changes.

The two had just woken up from a refreshing night of sleep.

Like always, Kami-sama wanted to check up on 'that'. But again, like always, nothing happened when her blood made contact with my back or more specifically, my [Sacred Text].

The problem was quite simple. Kami-sama's blood was not potent enough to overwrite the text. Let me explain why.

Sacred Texts were written by blood, more specifically the blood belonging to a God. The reason why was because their blood was imbued with a potent energy source that was far, far more powerful than Mana. This energy source was called [Arcana], one that is used by all, and only, gods.

There are stories of how the Creator God is all-powerful since he, everyone assumes the Creator God is a male for some reason, created the world. Quite simply, the Almighty One created the world itself using [Arcana].

That was what made this energy, and in tandem God's blood, so special.

Whilst [Mana] could only be used for destructive purposes if you ignore the healing arts, Arcana could be used to create life.

Unfortunately no-god except the Almighty One could create life in the form of humans, animals and Demi-humans since they didn't have energy. What they could do is grant sentience to inanimate objects.

That is why there was stuff like: sentient weapons that increase in power alongside its users, sentient trees, plants and castles. All one needed to do was write some runes onto the object and smear it with God's blood.

The Sacred Text was one of many creations given sentience by gods, arguably the greatest one yet. Like a sentient weapon, the text will synchronise with the bearer while simultaneously growing in power.

Truthfully my current Kami-sama had no experience with writing or overwriting Sacred Texts because she wasn't the one that gave me [God's Grace].

It's because of that, that my progress is slow right now. The only way to update the Sacred Text is for the god, the one who wrote it in the first place, to magically write another print with their blood.

Since Kami-sama wasn't the one who first wrote my sacred text, the text rejected Kami-sama's blood.

Meaning that for the past year, I have had gained a LOT of experience, but that experience couldn't be changed to stats until my text was updated. Meaning that I had to grow stronger through natural means...by training my body to peak performance.

There is a way to overwrite it, but that requires for the god to be more powerful than the one who first wrote it. But Kami-sama was nowhere near Macha's power.

A god's power could be increased through three ways. The first way was worshipping said god, the second was committing an action that matched said god's dominion, for example, Ares grows in strength the more battles there are. The third and final method was establishing a bond through sacred texts and thus gathering a [Familia], the stronger the [Familia] the more powerful the god that controls that familia.

Macha's powers were increased by the one hailed as the [Strongest Adventurer] so naturally she would be much stronger than Kami-sama.

It was quite frankly...depressing. To be stuck at only this power level when I could be so much more.

_You deserve more..._ Gabriel's words resounded in my head, I shook my head. This was enough, this was definitely enough I told myself. But that feeling of doubt...I couldn't shake it away.

As if she could sense my feelings she teared up a bit and bowed repeatedly.

"I am so sorry Bell-kun."

"Kami-sama?"

"Even now, I can't do anything to help you. Yet you've done so much to help me even though I'm not truly your goddess."

I reassured her by holding her shoulders as we looked at each other's eyes.

"Don't ever say that Kami-sama, you saved my life and that alone is a debt I can never repay. You may not know it, but just by being here, you have given me a goal, a purpose in life that I can look forward to."

When I was at my lowest, she saved me. That is why I will serve her with my full effort.

I sensed relief and happiness. That was good, I didn't want to see Kami-sama become sad over something so trivial.

"That being said, I'm amazed at how many [skills] you have Bell-kun."

I froze for just a moment before laughing sheepishly.

"Thanks..." Thank god Kami-sama couldn't read Ancient Irish text.

The only reason she knew I had multiple skills was because all sacred texts follow a certain pattern of design. Typically, the top part was for stats and the bottom part lists skills.

"But if you're already Level 3. Shouldn't you be strong enough to advance through the upper floors and down?" Kami-sama asked truthfully. This wasn't a sarcastic remark or a scornful one, it was a genuine question due to Kami-sama's ignorance about potential in relation to stats.

"Ah, I could. But if I advance through the floors too quickly the Gods might get suspicious."

Kami-sama nodded. There was a mutual understanding that Gods were always curious of things that were original, rare or above standards. In the end that wasn't a good thing for either of them, though for different reasons of course.

The awkward silence ended quickly as Kami-sama adopted a bright expression.

Yeah, I told her about what I was doing today. Though I didn't give the specifics, she knew the general outline.

"But I can't believe it, you'll be learning under a member of the [CrimsonHart]. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Bell-kun. People like that Sword Princess or Riveria Rios (that elf royalty in Loki Familia) have learnt under the other members like Roland and Merlin and they've all become famous." Yeah, I disguised it as a one-day learning opportunity offered by Gabriel.

Though I wasn't aware about Merlin, the [Strongest Mage], taking on an apprentice. What next? Evangeline also took on a disciple? Heh, I'd actually like to see that. That vampire queen's tolerance for 'brats' is kind of non-existent, myself excluded.

"Yeah, I'm excited as well." I was, just for different reasons.

"But I'm relieved, with Gabriel-san looking after you I can go to the banquet without worries." Huh, that was weird. This is Kami-sama, she would usually be jealous of something like this.

"Uhhh, Kami-sama isn't you worried Gabriel might, I don't know, make a move on me." Of course that was unlikely as hell but Kami-sama doesn't know that. I reached for the glass of water sitting on the table next to me.

"Ummm, no, Gabriel-san already has a boyfriend."

"PFFTTTTT!" I spat out the water.

WTF? GABRIEL HAS A BOYFRIEND!?

"Gabriel has a boyfriend?" Though I said it in a much lower tone than I would've liked to.

My heart was twisting in jealousy. That lucky bastard who stole Gabriel's heart. How far were they into the relationship? Have they done it already? DID HE STEAL HER CHERRY!?

"Yeah, my god friends all say that Gabriel and the Conqueror are a couple." What? That is utter bullshit!

"That piece of gossip is really popular amongst the gods. It's even depicted in plays about the [CrimsonHart]." Wait, there are plays about us? That is so awesome. I have got to watch them.

But enough of that. These rumours are lies, no matter how hot they sounded.

"Gabriel..."

"Oh yes, Bell-kun, why don't you use honourifics with Gabriel-san? Wait...don't tell me...Bell-kun wants Gabriel-san to be his girlfriend?"

Misunderstood! Though that does sound hot.

"No, no, Gabriel and I are just friends."

"Suspicious..." Why couldn't I just shut up?

"A-ara? Isn't it time to go now? You might be late for the banquet."

"...suspicious." She repeated in order to emphasise.

"It is fine, Kami-sama!"

"Muoooh, fine! But I'll be back soon Bell-kun." She was definitely still suspicious. Me and my big mouth.

"Yep, have fun!" I waved cheerfully.

She just sent me a glare in return...

What the heck did I do?

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The sun was shining bright in the sky.

This would be a good time to go to the dungeon.

But first things first, I had to go fix things up due to yesterday's events.

"It's a bit awkward…"

A "Closed" sign was in front of the door.

I hesitated for a while, then made up my mind and walked into the Mistress of Abundance. Karan Karan, the doorbell sounds rang.

"I'm very sorry, customer. Out shop is currently still preparing. Could you visit sometime later?"

"He came to Mia's shop again, nya! Mia mama it's that guy who caused trouble yesterday." Wait what? Wasn't it Gabriel who started it? I didn't want to cause trouble with Mia of all people.

From within the shop, the elf employee and the cat person employee were currently spreading the table cloth, but after noticing me, they immediately responded. Regardless of which one, they are both very cute. The two of them, who were both wearing the same outfit as Seal-san, had delicate features and a sense of innocence; they definitely belonged to different categories.

"Please be quiet, you..."

"Bu-nya?" She asked in confusion.

"Bell-kun it has been a while. I had heard you came yesterday, unfortunately that was my day off."

"Yes, I was wondering. It's good to see you again, Ryu."

"Uhhh, mind telling me what's going on nya? The senior workers all seem to get excited when it comes to this guy nya!"

Before Ryu, the elf employee, could answer. A voice from upstairs could be heard.

"Bell-kun?" Seal had just come from upstairs.

"Haha, hi Seal, sorry about yesterday. I wanted to come back to say sorry and pay for the damage."

"Oh no need, Gabriel-san has already paid for the damages; she also came here to explain." Damn, Gabriel certainly works fast.

"I see...still I am sorry for the trouble I caused yesterday." I bowed deeply.

"Ah, no..." She shook her hands, face flustered. "Just by coming here you have made me happy."

"Oh please wait here a moment." She went back to the kitchen to get something presumably.

Seal, came back, carrying a huge basket.

"Gabriel-san said that you two will be going to the dungeon today. I made these beforehand, please accept it, okay?"

"Oh?"

"Some of the cooks helped too so there's a lot."

"Ah, thank you then." I accepted it gratefully, it would be counterproductive not to accept it. "Sorry for the trouble, I feel like I should repay you."

"Ah, no need, Bell-kun as long as you and Gabriel-san find it delicious then me and the cooks will be happy."

"Nonsense, of course it'll be delicious, that's why I insist I should pay."

Reaching for his bag, he took out a large sack which made a [Ching] noise when it hit the table next to them.

"Bell-Bell-kun this is too much."

"Nah, ah, it's alright I've got plenty of these to last me a 100 lifetimes, giving away some wouldn't hurt my wallet at all wahahahahaha."

"But Bell-kun..." "I see the brat has come back, and as generous as ever I see, hahahaha!"

A loud voice boomed, straight from the kitchen. It was Mia mama, the huge dwarf lady working at the bar last night.

"Kids, go back and help the cooks with the setup."

"Yes, Mia mama." All three employees gave me a look and ran past Mia. Leaving us alone.

"Hi Mia." I said waving cheerily, only to be whacked on the head by an iron pan.

"That's for wrecking my shop first thing since coming back."

"Owowowowow. Guess I deserved that one." I clutched my head, that really hurt!

"Damn straight you did, kid. You owe me two years worth of money for every lunch and dinner you've missed. You better make it up to me."

"Hai~! I'll be sure to eat here frequently like I used to."

"Good!"

"...Kid?"

"Yeah Mia?"

"Adventurers who try to look cool are of no use. We can't do everything, not even you kid."

"Yeah." I know exactly what she was referring to.

"That's why it's okay to ask for help, even if you are the [strongest], there will always be friends that will have your back. So don't ever hesitate to call them on for help."

At that moment, Mia, she read right through me.

I widened my eyes while her grin widened.

"At the end of the day, it's not the last person standing at the top that is the best. It's the one who comes back home, safe and sound, with their precious ones side by side, intact. It's the ones who are able to reach the top with their dreams intact that are the real winners in life."

Mia mama...!

"So come back, kid. Make a new dream, a new purpose, and come back as a winner just like you used to."

My breathing slowed, but my feelings of gratitude did not.

That's right, isn't it? There really is no use in moping about the past, is there?

I smacked both cheeks.

"Thanks Mia, I needed that."

"Damn right you did."

"Right, guess I know what to do next now." Waving Mia goodbye, I opened the door only for Mia mama to shout something at me.

"No problem, thank you!" Walking outside of the store, I mindfully called out "I'm leaving!", then when I walked to the Main Street, my thoughts wondered to Gabriel.

Gabriel...I think I have my answer.

"Bell-kun." A voice called out from behind.

"Hmm?" I turned around to see that Ryu was catching up to me.

"Will you be returning to the front lines? Actively?"

"...no...it's just this one time. I couldn't refuse a friend's request."

"I see. It is a shame, though I do understand."

"Thank you."

"But...are you going to the dungeon with that gear?"

"Hmmm?"

"Other than a black shirt and dark blue pants, are you sure you want to go in the dungeon with just that?"

I smiled widely. "Yep!" Replying cheerfully as of it was only natural.

"I see..." She smiled faintly. "...it is good to see that your confidence as the [Strongest] hasn't changed."

"Yeah, as long as blood still flows through my veins that won't ever change."

"That...is so like you." Didn't know if that was a compliment or insult.

But I couldn't think much about that comment, I had to go quickly.

"Let's hang out sometime."

"Yes, that would be nice."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The fountain.

She was already waiting there.

"Gabriel, good morning!" I waved at her. Though my action was a lot more restrained than yesterday.

"Bell-kun...good morning." She said in return but like me her greeting was more restrained, sounded more formally actually.

Things were kind of awkward.

"So...have you thought about my offer?" Straight to business I see.

"I..." Though I had decided what my answer was, saying it directly to Gabriel was a different matter entirely.

"Let's bet on it then." Hmmm? Gabriel was wearing a determined expression, one that I had not seen in quite some time. Frankly, I was taken aback. She's being doing that a lot. First she's all gentle, cute and a little shy then she's all serious and...beautiful? I didn't want to admit it, since it goes against my image of her, but she was kind of sexy with that expression.

When her expressions changed from shy to serious, all that 'innocent beauty' suddenly changed to 'mature beauty'.

And did she somehow predict my answer?

"What do you propose then?" Nonetheless, this was sure to be interesting.

"Let's go to the Dungeon. Whoever kills more monsters in the [Unexplored Floors] or completes more quests is the winner. If I win, you join my Familia, if I lose, then...you can do anything you want with me. We'll go to the guild and officialise this match." Wow, I didn't expect Gabriel to be so assertive about this.

But oy, oy that serious face was kind of unnerving, Gabriel wasn't usually like this. She was usually respectful about a person's wishes, and what was with that last part? It sounded perverted! No, no snap out of me, Gabriel clearly had no lustful motivations, that was just me misinterpreting, yep, it was just puberty kicking in.

**Note: the unexplored floors are just floors that haven't been officially mapped out yet by the new adventurers, most of the old adventurers have already gone there.**

But to see such a determined expression, especially from Gabriel, rejecting it would diminish my pride. There was only one thing to do when another adventurer challenges you.

"I accept your challenge." Gabriel smiled gently, as if relieved.

"Follow me then."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Is that...omg it is..."

"It's Gabriel-sama!" Yeah, they were able to notice us, because the guild building was made out of anti-mana materials. So Gabriel's illusion magic was dispelled, though I'm pretty sure she could break past these barriers easily if she tried.

"She's so beautiful!"

"Why the heck is she walking with a guy like that?"

"Get the heck of out there, you're not fit to be in Gabriel-sama's presence!" Damn the extreme fanboy and fangirl reactions are still the same.

I tried my best to tune them out.

For the rest of the time, the onlookers were whispering amongst themselves. Probably speculating about what Gabriel was doing here and making some ridiculous romantic notions about me and Gabriel.

"Gabriel...let's hurry up, all the attention is annoying." Good thing this was Eina's off day, I'd never hear the end of it.

"One second...wait here." We arrived in front of a desk. Like she asked, I waited a few metres behind her and sat on a nearby chair. The bystanders were looking at me with hostility but they kept their distance.

I couldn't hear what they were talking about but the staff member was looking at me a lot of times and blushed.

What?

It took a while but Gabriel came back.

"Finished, put this bracelet on." Ah, so that's how she'll keep track on our progress. There was similar bracelet on Gabriel's right wrist.

"Alright." I put it on my left wrist and inserted some mana into it. Doing so, the bracelet would release the mana and act like a sonar and it could detect your own actions. For each kill, the bracelet would record it.

It was another one of God's creation. In other words, a mana-reliant sentient object.

"Now, let's get out of here." A burst of mana, then nothing.

We teleported out of the building. The bystanders must have looked shocked that someone could actually use a magic spell inside the guild building.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"This is the 61st floor." They were immediately surrounded by a dark atmosphere. The full moon on the night sky illuminated their surroundings to reveal a plain surrounded bu several forests here and there. The trees were enormous easily towering over any ogre.

"The Land of Werewolves..."

Werewolves were tough, they weren't necessarily as strong as Minotaurs; but they were faster, more agile and ten times smarter in dealing with prey. Not to mention that the 61st floor was primarily a forest area, the wolf-human hybrids would use the tall trees to their advantage in large groups.

They'd often wait on the branches while they send their wolf minions to distract and tire adventurers.

The floor-residents (NPCs) that gave out quests were primarily Lycanthropes: more intelligent yet weaker, less ferocious versions of werewolves.

"We'll start in a minute."

"Allocated time?" It was time to get fired up.

"6 hours, then we'll return to the guild." 6 hours, good there would be a few minutes to spare before 'that' happened.

"Very well."

A golden portal opened up right next to my right shoulder.

Out came a black hilt, at first glance it lacked a blade. But as soon as it touched my right hand, as if responding to my will, a neon-blue blade of light lit up from the hilt.

By inserting light-attuned magic into the hilt, it became a [Lightsaber].

That's right, this would do. No need for some Legendary-class weapon...no, this would do just fine against these monsters.

A quick, clean death followed by a smoky carcass dropping onto the floor without spilling any blood.

Gabriel, on the other hand, brought out a white wooden staff with a medium-sized gold crystal on top.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's do this." I replied cooly.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"Go!"

I sped off towards the nearby forest, it was time to hunt some monsters.

**That's the end of it, sorry these last three chapters were uneventful but I promise the pace will speed up from this point on. Next chapter, there will be a slight time skip to nighttime where events will take place in the Banquet of the Gods with Hestia, Loki, Hephaestus and Freya. The chapter after that be the continuation of this cliffhanger, it will have fight scenes and also another tidbit that relates to why Bell is called Dracula.**

**Next chapter:** Banquet of the Gods, Freya's entrance.

**Chapter after that: **The Dungeon seeks its Master.

**Here's a sneak peek of **"The Dungeon seeks its Master"**:**

_It calls..._

_It calls to him..._

_It calls...to the master..._

_Hundreds upon hundreds of cracks opened up on the ground, the trees and the mountain rocks. _

_Our master has come to play..._

_Our prince belongs to the darkness..._

_Thousands of monsters, not just wolves, but of various species sprouted out as they stared at the forest area; more specifically the forest area in which the 'prince' was fighting for his life._

_...and it shall stay that way forever!_

_As they jumped out of their hole they eagerly ran towards that lovely scent. The blood, the desire, the energy of their master was rolling off in waves. They wanted to taste it again, they wanted to devour their prince in darkness just as it always should have been._

_...the prince shall be ours again!_

_Quickly stampeding towards 'him', the thousands of monsters let out a fierce battle cry, one that shook the entire floor itself._

_On the mountain cliff, where one could view the entire spectacle with clarity, a man in black armour wearing a black horned helmet stood there gazing at the adventurer named Bell Cranel._

_..._

_"I understand, master."_

_..._

_"I will bring him to you. Peacefully or not, I am confident that he will eventually join our cause."_

_..._

_"Hmmm?"_

_..._

_"Why not? Telling him about 'that' stage of our plan will secure his place in our ranks."_

_..._

_"Yes, I am sure. He defied a god to be by her side, he would do so again just to hold her in his arms again."_

_..._

_"...Very well, I will break all his options. By the end he will join us willingly, then I will tell him about the ritual."_

_..._

_"As you command, my master."_

_Turning, he headed towards his waiting dragon mount; a black dragon, one of the strongest kinds of their race._

_"I wonder what he would think about it; It's not every day when a goddess is revived, especially when it's Macha, the Creator God's daughter."_


End file.
